In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 577 At Least 5 Jin

About several dozen meters away from Su Qiaoxi and her companion were Chen Dao and the stewards of Chenjia Village.

However, the people standing next to Chen Dao at this moment were not the managers of Chenjia Village, but several guests who had come at Chen Dao's invitation.

Among them were Zheng Qing, Xu Zhiwen, Li Qingyun, and two middle-aged men who were relatively unfamiliar to the villagers of Chenjia Village.

The two middle-aged men were dressed in plain clothes, but their imposing presence revealed their identities: officials.

The middle-aged man, who was slightly tall and thin, was named Zhang Jun and was the magistrate of Dingjun County.

The middle-aged man, who was slightly shorter and had a rounder face, was named Cui Rong and was the magistrate of Dingping County.

In other words, at this time, Chenjia Village was home to the four county magistrates and prefects of Taicang County.

Looking at the golden wheat in the field and the busy farmers, Zheng Qing squinted and asked, "Young friend Chen, what brings you here today?"

About five days ago, Zheng Qing received a letter from Chen Dao sent to the county seat. The letter not only invited Zheng Qing to go to Chenjia Village to discuss matters, but also specifically emphasized that Zheng Qing should bring the magistrates of Dingjun County and Dingping County.

As an ally of Chen Dao, Zheng Qing naturally would not refuse Chen Dao's invitation, and thus set off immediately after receiving the letter, arriving at Chenjia Village two days ago.

Zhang Jun and Cui Rong set off a day later and only arrived at Chenjia Village yesterday.

However, they were not yet clear about Chen Dao's purpose in inviting them.

"Do you all know what the Nine Provinces lack most right now?"

Chen Dao did not answer Zheng Qing directly, but asked the others instead.

"Of course, it's food."

Xu Zhiwen blurted out his debut.

It is said that gold is valued in times of chaos, while antiques are valued in times of prosperity.

In chaotic times, gold and silver may not be as important as food.

Not having gold might just mean being poorer, but not having food means starving to death.

Taking Yang's army in Liangzhou as an example, Yang Zheng confiscated the property of most landlords in Liangzhou and seized an unknown amount of gold, silver and jewels, but this could not change the fact that Liangzhou was short of food.

Due to the impact of the cold disaster, the harvest in the entire Upper Three Prefectures and Qing Prefecture was greatly reduced, and food was in a state of extreme scarcity. It was impossible for the people to sell their life-saving food.

Only some large clans and landlords would sell the grain they couldn't finish, but that amount... was far from enough to meet the needs of Liangzhou.

Moreover... landlords are not fools; they also wait for the right price to go, so the grain they sell is often high-priced grain.

"Exactly!"

Chen Dao nodded vigorously and said, "The war in Kyushu is ongoing, and the flames of war have destroyed the livelihoods of people in various places, as well as countless farmlands and crops. Although the autumn harvest is approaching, I do not believe that the food shortage situation in various places will be alleviated."

Although Qingzhou was not affected by the war, the effects of the cold disaster have not subsided...

As he said this, Chen Dao looked up at the sky. In July, Qingzhou already had a bit of a chill in the air, which meant that the impact of the cold disaster was not over, and this winter would probably still be extremely cold.

"That's true."

Zheng Qing nodded in agreement: "We have tried our best to stabilize grain prices, but in the end, even the most skilled cook cannot cook without rice. If the fields cannot produce grain, even if I use all my means, I can only make the grain price drop slightly."

In fact, Zheng Qing had done a great job. If he and Chen Dao hadn't joined forces to destroy the Wang family and seized a large amount of grain from them, the price of grain (referring to wheat flour and rice) in Taicang County would probably still be around 20 wen per jin, causing even more people to starve to death.

"This food shortage is indeed a tricky issue."

Cui Rong, the magistrate of Dingping County, said with a worried look: "Several months ago, with the help of the prefect, I dealt with the powerful families in Dingping County. Then, as instructed by the prefect, I distributed the land of the powerful families to the people for cultivation. However, due to the short time frame, this autumn harvest... I'm afraid the grain that Dingping County can produce will be quite limited."

Crops need time to grow. Two months ago, Cui Rongcai dealt with the landlords in the county and rented out a large amount of land that the landlords had acquired to landless people for cultivation free of charge.

Two months is clearly not enough time for a crop to mature.

"Brother Cui, there's no need to worry."

Seeing Cui Rong looking worried, Xu Zhiwen smiled and said, "The crops in Taiping County have begun to be harvested one after another, and the harvest is expected to be plentiful. If Brother Cui's county is short of food, Taiping County can provide some assistance."

"Dingxing County can also help."

Li Qingyun also said that he had eliminated the powerful clans in the county a long time ago and distributed the land to the people to cultivate. Therefore, the harvest of grain in Dingxing County this autumn will definitely be plentiful.

"Brother Xu, Brother Li, don't forget me!"

Zhang Jun, who was standing nearby, quickly said, "The autumn harvest in Dingjun County is also not very promising. I would appreciate it if Brother Xu and Brother Li could lend us some help."

"It's easy to talk about."

Xu Zhiwen and Li Qingyun smiled and agreed.

Chen Dao then asked, "What do you all think the yield of wheat per acre in this field is?"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked bewildered. Although they were rare good officials who cared about the people, they were not proficient in farming. They could only roughly judge from the size and fullness of the wheat ears that the yield per mu would not be too low.

"It should weigh around 400 jin?"

Zheng Qing said uncertainly, "As far as I know, the yield of wheat and rice in Xia Kingdom is around 300 jin per mu. If the land is fertile and the cultivation is meticulous, the yield can reach about 350 jin per mu."

However, because the wheat and rice ears in Chenjia Village's farmland were very large and plump, Zheng Qing gave a relatively high figure of 400 jin.

"It weighs more than 400 jin (200 catties)."

Before Chen Dao could speak, Xu Zhiwen, who knew more about farming, shook his head and said, "Although I am not very knowledgeable about farming, I can tell that the wheat in these fields can produce at least 500 catties of grain per mu."

"what?!"

Zheng Qing, Li Qingyun, Cui Rong, and Zhang Jun were all shocked, their eyes filled with disbelief.

What does a yield of 500 jin per mu mean?

It should be noted that the average grain yield per mu in the Xia Kingdom was only about 300 jin. A yield of 500 jin per mu is nearly double. What does this mean?

This means that the same land can produce nearly twice the amount of food and feed twice the population.

If every piece of land could yield 500 catties per mu, wouldn't that mean... the entire Kyushu would no longer have to worry about food shortages?

"Is it really possible to produce 500 jin per mu?"

Zheng Qing looked intently at Chen Dao, desperately hoping that Chen Dao could give a positive answer.

Li Qingyun, Cui Rong, and Zhang Jun also fixed their intense gazes on Chen Dao.

"good."

Chen Dao slowly nodded: "This batch of wheat will yield at least 500 jin per mu."